Day 901 a trip to Kelburn Castle and Estate with Freya

I’m lying in bed and it’s 6.30am and my mind is already whirring so I thought I’d write some of it down.

I’m gutted that my plans for today have fallen through. I was meant to be paddle boarding on Loch Lomond with Ayrshire Paddleboard Co but it was cancelled about 8.30pm last night due to a bad weather forecast.

It was originally meant to be in the afternoon, then mid week changed to 10am to 1pm and last night they made the right call that the increasing wind forecast wasn’t safe.

On one had I was very nervous that I wouldn’t be good enough for the 10k paddle, my wrist has been hurting for a week or so, so I was worried that the paddle would make it worse. Then it cancels and I’m gutted!! Safety first though!

So I could have worked in the little gift shop yesterday morning after all. Mrs Over-thinker needed at least one day at the weekend with no plans… and now I have two. So my mind is in overdrive with the possibilities…..

What do I want to do today?

I want to relax and enjoy a day off but I don’t want to waste it…. Ideas are …Meditation, sort out the Christmas boxes and get them down to a small amount so I can give the rest to charity, walk the dogs, healthy food shop…. But I need to do something that gets me out the house.

I decided to head to head to Largs and Kelburn Castle & Estate. Click on the link to have a look.

Kelburn Castle was built around 1143 and is decorated in what they call Transient Art.

Here it is today. It’s pretty overcast today and the forecast is for strong winds and rain later but I’m lucky to get out and about in the dry.

I have to say, if I’m being really picky, it’s not that pretty but it is captivating as it’s so unusual.

So I took Freya with me today and the plan was to have a big walk in the woods and enjoy being outside before the weather turns…. And that is exactly what we do.

In true country estate style we opt to follow one of the designated paths…. The black path which is the longest walk and takes about an hour.

The black markers don’t seem visible to me for most of the walk so we head up the North Glen and back down the South Glen. Lo and behold we have walked the black route without even really realising it. 🤦🏻‍♀️😂

This did not scare me… in… the… slightest…. walking up to it… and past it…. Jeezo man 😂

Then we get up to the top of the walk and have lovely views out over Great Cumbrae and Arran. The photo doesn’t do it justice as all.

Then we head down the South Glen.

I should say here that this is the Kel Burn running through the estate which makes a lot of sense obviously.

It’s a stunning woodland walk.

Another glimpse is the sea!

This next photo is looking down on the waterfall pool. It’s actually a 6ft deep chasm… the photo doesn’t give it that depth.

And this next one is us down at the pool looking back up at the sculpture people! They are see through from up top so don’t show up very well in the first photo, if you look though you will see the outline.

The pool is lovely. It’s actually so dramatic. We tried a selfie but this is the best we can do.

It was a lovely walk and nothing beats spending time in the trees.

There was an Artisan Market on today but we didn’t go in. Not sure Freya would be in-keeping with the artisan theme 😆 and not sure I could afford anything that describes itself as artisan at the moment. I did buy coffee and a lemon square which was lovely…. £4.60.

I should say it’s £5 to pay for parking too but you get access to everything in the grounds. It strikes me as a great place to take kids and there’s a fair bit for them to do.

Here she is all tired and ready to head home!

I sorted out the Christmas boxes and threw some stuff out and have a bag for charity.

I also did a 35 minute guided meditation by Suzanne Robichaud- Open to Receive -the law of attraction. Think I may have fallen asleep in the middle of it but woke back up for the end.

The wind is blowing leaves all over Craig’s clean grass now but hey…. It looked great for a day!!

So a good day, all relaxed and rested for the week ahead!

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️